Court quashes attachment of Pune businessman’s flat in Pune ISIS case

The case stems from FIR registered by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in August 2023 against several accused linked to ISIS

A special National Investigation Agency ( NIA) court in Mumbai has quashed an order of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) that had attached a Pune businessman’s property as “proceeds of terrorism” in connection with an alleged ISIS conspiracy. The order was issued on September 16.

The appellant, 59-year-old Anwar Ali Hasan Mohammad Idrisi, challenged the attachment in June 2024, arguing that he was the lawful owner of the flat long before letting it out under a leave-and-licence agreement. (REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO)

The case stems from a first information report (FIR) registered by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in August 2023 against several accused linked to ISIS, including Rizwan Ali, who had taken the property on rent. Following this, the NIA ordered attachment of the flat in March 2024, which was later confirmed by the MHA in May 2024.

The appellant, 59-year-old Anwar Ali Hasan Mohammad Idrisi, challenged the attachment in June 2024, arguing that he was the lawful owner of the flat long before letting it out under a leave-and-licence agreement.

Idrisi’s appeal concerned his flat at Chetna Garden Society, Mithanagar, Kondhwa. He maintained that he had rented the premises to Ali between December 2022 and October 2023 without any knowledge of its alleged misuse. The NIA, however, submitted that incriminating materials were recovered from the kitchen and that the property had been used for planning terrorist acts, making it liable for attachment under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

Special Judge Chakor Shrikrishna Baviskar ruled that the property could not be treated as terror proceeds within the meaning of the UAPA, since Idrisi was not an accused and there was no evidence that the flat had been acquired with funds from unlawful activity. The court observed that once a property is rented out, the landlord cannot ordinarily be held liable for a tenant’s activities in the absence of knowledge or connivance.

The attachment order was set aside, and the flat was ordered to be released, with Idrisi directed to cooperate with the NIA during trial proceedings if called upon.

The judgment further clarified that the relief would not shield Idrisi if future evidence were to establish any link with the accused or with a banned organisation.